They actually did it and the statue is gone which feels like waking up from some weird fever dream. I am just staring at the empty patch of grass where that thing sat for forever and thinking about how 2,190 people really pushed until they had no other choice. Keep …
July 12, 2020
Final supporters
This petition is made regarding two landmarks located in Shelby, North Carolina. The first is a Confederate monument, which stands in front of the Historic Cleveland County Courthouse now known as the Earl Scruggs Center. This confederate monument serves as a chilling reminder of the dark history of the Civil War, Jim Crow, and other instances of systemic oppression inflicted upon African Americans in the South. The monument is not a representation of the values that the “City of Pleasant Living” purports to stand on. The statue is located in the center of Uptown Shelby and can be seen during parades, concerts, and holiday festivities that occur along the Court Square. While historic preservation is of the utmost concern, we feel that the confederate monument is inappropriately located and needs to be taken down and given to an entity dedicated to the preservation of confederate monuments
http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/257/
The second landmark at issue is the portion of Highway 74 known as “Dixon Boulevard”. As many know, the road is named after Shelby’s very own Thomas Dixon Jr. Dixon is known for his 1905 novel “The Clansman”, which was later adapted into the 1915 film “Birth of A Nation”. “Birth of a Nation” is widely regarded as the film responsible for the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan and its reign of terror on African-Americans in the early 20th century. The portion of Highway 74 known as “Dixon Boulevard” is the major roadway in Shelby. Many restaurants, businesses, and even Shelby High School are located on “Dixon”. Dixon Boulevard is also where Dylann Roof, the convicted murderer of 9 African-American churchgoers was captured. We feel that this stretch of road should no longer be dedicated to a man with such a divisive legacy as Dixons’. It is our wish that these landmarks and their dark legacy be changed.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/dixon.html
If you agree with this petition please sign and share
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
June 5, 2020
June 5, 2020
I was looking at the screen and realized how far this has moved when I stopped to get coffee and my hands were actually shaking a little. People are finally talking about Dixon Boulevard and that statue like it is a real issue instead of just background noise in town. It is wild to think about how many strangers agree that it is time for a change because I honestly thought I was the only one stuck on this.
June 3, 2020
The silence from the city officials is honestly getting louder every day while I spend my evenings reading through the history of Dixon Boulevard again. It feels strange to look at those streets now knowing how much of our local identity was built on such painful roots but I have been talking to a few people who want to help me draft a formal letter to the county board.
Reached 100 supporters
June 2, 2020
515 Comments
I share the same family tree as Thomas Dixon and I’m proud, not of his views, but of how my views and my families views have progressed. We will never change history but we, as a people, can. It’s way past time for this statue to be removed from public land.
Speaking as someone who was born and raised in Shelby, I've always seen us having a Confederate monument in town square as a sore thumb of regressive views and hatred. Past time for monuments to this bile to be torn down.
It's long past time to stop glorifying traitors to our country. Also changing names and taking down monuments is in no way "revising history." Those names will still be in history books. It matters who you celebrate in public.
It is TIME to lift what has been swept under the "HATRED-RUG" for to long. As the only girl of 7 boys who entered Shelby Middle School during the 60's was like a horror movie...I do wish to be a part of what needs to be done...God Bless...
Placing a statue commemorating and honoring white supremacy in front of a courthouse was never a coincidence. Removing this statue will only enhance a vibrant and growing Uptown Shelby while making it more inclusive to all the city's residents.
Remove the racist signs
Agree 100%
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They actually did it and the statue is gone which feels like waking up from some weird fever dream. I am just staring at the empty patch of grass where that thing sat for forever and thinking about how 2,190 people really pushed until they had no other choice. Keep …
July 12, 2020
Final supporters
This petition is made regarding two landmarks located in Shelby, North Carolina. The first is a Confederate monument, which stands in front of the Historic Cleveland County Courthouse now known as the Earl Scruggs Center. This confederate monument serves as a chilling reminder of the dark history of the Civil War, Jim Crow, and other instances of systemic oppression inflicted upon African Americans in the South. The monument is not a representation of the values that the “City of Pleasant Living” purports to stand on. The statue is located in the center of Uptown Shelby and can be seen during parades, concerts, and holiday festivities that occur along the Court Square. While historic preservation is of the utmost concern, we feel that the confederate monument is inappropriately located and needs to be taken down and given to an entity dedicated to the preservation of confederate monuments
http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/257/
The second landmark at issue is the portion of Highway 74 known as “Dixon Boulevard”. As many know, the road is named after Shelby’s very own Thomas Dixon Jr. Dixon is known for his 1905 novel “The Clansman”, which was later adapted into the 1915 film “Birth of A Nation”. “Birth of a Nation” is widely regarded as the film responsible for the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan and its reign of terror on African-Americans in the early 20th century. The portion of Highway 74 known as “Dixon Boulevard” is the major roadway in Shelby. Many restaurants, businesses, and even Shelby High School are located on “Dixon”. Dixon Boulevard is also where Dylann Roof, the convicted murderer of 9 African-American churchgoers was captured. We feel that this stretch of road should no longer be dedicated to a man with such a divisive legacy as Dixons’. It is our wish that these landmarks and their dark legacy be changed.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/dixon.html
If you agree with this petition please sign and share
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
June 5, 2020
June 5, 2020
I was looking at the screen and realized how far this has moved when I stopped to get coffee and my hands were actually shaking a little. People are finally talking about Dixon Boulevard and that statue like it is a real issue instead of just background noise in town. It is wild to think about how many strangers agree that it is time for a change because I honestly thought I was the only one stuck on this.
June 3, 2020
The silence from the city officials is honestly getting louder every day while I spend my evenings reading through the history of Dixon Boulevard again. It feels strange to look at those streets now knowing how much of our local identity was built on such painful roots but I have been talking to a few people who want to help me draft a formal letter to the county board.
Reached 100 supporters
June 2, 2020
515 Comments
I one of my black history classes at Shelby high were thought that I class, I asked the question why, why were we honoring Dixon Jr like .I was told that’s just the way it was back then, Will we are not living in back then, Now we are living in the right thing to do time!!!
I share the same family tree as Thomas Dixon and I’m proud, not of his views, but of how my views and my families views have progressed. We will never change history but we, as a people, can. It’s way past time for this statue to be removed from public land.
Speaking as someone who was born and raised in Shelby, I've always seen us having a Confederate monument in town square as a sore thumb of regressive views and hatred. Past time for monuments to this bile to be torn down.
It's long past time to stop glorifying traitors to our country. Also changing names and taking down monuments is in no way "revising history." Those names will still be in history books. It matters who you celebrate in public.
It is TIME to lift what has been swept under the "HATRED-RUG" for to long. As the only girl of 7 boys who entered Shelby Middle School during the 60's was like a horror movie...I do wish to be a part of what needs to be done...God Bless...
Placing a statue commemorating and honoring white supremacy in front of a courthouse was never a coincidence. Removing this statue will only enhance a vibrant and growing Uptown Shelby while making it more inclusive to all the city's residents.
Remove the racist signs
Agree 100%
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I one of my black history classes at Shelby high were thought that I class, I asked the question why, why were we honoring Dixon Jr like .I was told that’s just the way it was back then, Will we are not living in back then, Now we are living in the right thing to do time!!!